Resort properties have seen record-breaking demand this summer, leaving some to wonder when performance at those properties might come back down to earth.
But the hoteliers who oversee those resorts say they expect the strong demand to continue even into the typically slower fourth quarter.
Speaking during the "Is the Current Demand for Resorts Sustainable?" session at the 2021 Hotel Data Conference, Paulson Puerto Rico Hotels President Peter Hopgood said the strong continued demand is being fueled by a combination of leisure travelers, the return of some corporate travel and combination of different types of social groups.
"So we still have into the fourth quarter, a combination of a lot of events being booked: destination weddings, bachelorette and bachelor activities, birthdays, anniversaries, divorces, all kinds of bookings," he said. "So with the mix, even though we expect leisure is going to slow down, we have a little bit of corporate coming back and a little bit of both social activity and groups coming back makes us feel comfortable."
Hopgood said many hoteliers in the Caribbean are already adjusted broadly to the demand patterns seen during the pandemic, where demand can spike and crater, although downturns in that region are often related to hurricane season. Because of that, he said thriving in this specific period has meant following the company's typical revenue-management philosophy.
"We're prone to downsides, so whenever we have an opportunity, our revenue managers aren't really sensitive about it. We aren't shy about going up in rate when we have the opportunity," he said.
Jeremy See, senior vice president of revenue management for HEI Hotels and Resorts, said he's seen similar patterns in his company's resort portfolio, which is mainly in the Southeast U.S.
"Florida and Southeast markets typically slow down when you get into June, July and August, and every month we expected to slow down, but it continues to get better," he said, adding that "a lot of our resorts have broken records we never thought we would break."
Stacie Bushaw, senior direct of enterprise sales for NAVIS, said her company is seeing a huge influx of inbound booking calls to resort properties.
"We're seeing call volume has been up over 100% over 2019 numbers," she said, adding those properties are also seeing a significant uptick in direct bookings.
See agreed that his company is seeing "strong reservation flow right now into the fourth quarter, especially around the holidays."
"We're very optimistic that as we get towards the Thanksgiving and year-end holidays, resorts will bounce back and have, I would think, the best last two weeks of the year we've ever had," he said.
That doesn't mean there aren't clouds on the horizon, though. See said his company has a significant increase in group bookings for September and October, but recent news related to the uptick in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant mean HEI Hotels and Resorts has had to be more mindful of potential cancellations.
"With the group on the books at the moment, I think we do feel pretty confident, but at the same time, we're keeping a close eye on the decisions that could be made there," he said.
For now, the group pace for the first quarter of 2022 is exceptionally strong, pacing ahead of 2019 by more than $1 million for Paulson Puerto Rico Hotels' portfolio, Hopgood said. He added it's gotten to the point that he doesn't mind if groups that were originally set for 2020 and have deferred end up canceling, because those slots can be rebooked at higher rates right now.
"I'm saying, 'If you want to cancel, that's OK, because I have somebody lined up behind you who will pay more,'" he said.